Current circuit design and layout systems include rules-checking systems that include rules related to, among other things, line spacing, line widths and generic rules regarding geometric relationships between lines. These rules are generally restricted to single elements and relationships between two neighboring elements.
Because of light spreading effects through lenses and masks during fabrication of circuits, the each element can have an impact on more than just its neighboring elements. Currently, design or analysis systems or methods do not sufficiently or effectively take these non-neighboring impacts into account. What is needed is a method and system capable or identifying and/or compensating for the effects of non-neighboring elements on circuit design and layout.